What Matters Most Review

TITLE: Diary of a Teenage Girl: What Matters Most (Maya #3)
AUTHOR: Melody Carlson

PUB DATE: September 2009

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Maya’s Green Tip for the Day: Recycled fashion is one of the most fun ways to go green. A pair of jeans could be transformed into a denim skirt. A sweater into a vest. A bunch of old ties into a dress. A blanket into a poncho. Accessorize it in new way–with beads, buttons, appliqués, buckles, stencils, or ribbons…your imagination is only the limit. (65 words)

Sixteen-year-old Maya Stark has a lot to sort through. She could graduate from high school early if she wants to. She’s considering it, especially when popular cheerleader Vanessa Hartman decides to make her life miserable–and Maya’s ex-boyfriend Dominic gets the wrong idea about everything.

To complicate matters even more, Maya’s mother will be released from prison soon, and she’ll want Maya to live with her again. That’s a disaster waiting to happen. And when Maya plays her dad’s old acoustic guitar in front of an audience, she discovers talents and opportunities she never expected. Faced with new options, Maya must choose between a “normal” life and a glamorous one. Ultimately, she has to figure out what matters most.

YOU CAN BUY THE BOOK HERE:
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9781601421197

MY THOUGHTS:

This is book three in the Maya series and the last in the Diary of a Teenage Girl series. I have to admit that its only been the Maya ones I have read so far but I really want to read the other books in this series. The other books are based on the characters of Caitlin, Chloe and Kim which all coincidentally are mentioned in the Maya series. You don’t have to read those previous books to read the Maya series.

Once again Maya brought her recycling tips at the end of the chapters which I thought were really interesting. It seems like we are always trying to reuse or recycle which is good and we really need to do start and become more aware of what we use and throw away.

Here are three website links that are mentioned in the book:
www.idealbite.com
www.epa.gov ( U.S Environmental Protection Agency)
http://environment.about.com

Maya is sixteen years old and is still living with her uncle. Her dad is still in Europe on tour and her mother is just about to be released from prison. Maya has a lot on her plate and it only gets worse when she has to decide if she wants to wait to graduate or graduate in the summer. She isn’t sure what to but when things get a little stressful with Vanessa making her life miserable she begins to think graduating early might be the solution to the problem. Then if that isn’t enough she has the chance of a life time to be in a band when she discovers that she does have a talent for music. What will her father think of this?

Maya’s mother gets released for prison and is already telling Maya that she owes her. Maya wants nothing to do with her mother and tells her so. Thinking she is okay with that Maya quickly discovers that her mother is in town and begins to panic. How will Maya cope with her mother around?

Maya has alot of choices to make and can she prove to everyone she is capable and old enough to do it all?

I really enjoyed reading this series and looking forward to future books by Melody Carlson.

This book was provided for review by Waterbrook Multnomah.